The conclusion of the non-waivers trade deadline means that no more high-impact players will be joining the Yankees. Wednesday’s 12-3 defeat of the Orioles means you can’t sound the alarm about the AL East title, not with the Yankees enjoying yesterday’s off day up by seven games in the loss column over Baltimore and Tampa Bay.

But gosh, there had to be something for Yankees fans to get through the day. Some source of grave concern, right?

Oh, there it is: hitting with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees enjoyed a stellar day in the clutch Wednesday, going 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position — which included four such hits with two outs in their seven-run third inning — while Baltimore went an amazing 0-for-15. Nevertheless, you know by now that this has not been a stellar season in this category.

“You know, fellas, we’ve hit a gazillion home runs this year, man,” Nick Swisher said Wednesday. “Like I’ve always said, this team is designed to hit home runs. When there’s a runner on first base, a two-run bomb, it’s actually more than getting a base hit with a runner on second.”

Well, the Yankees lead the majors with 166 home runs in 2012, so Swisher was off by about 999 bajillion and 834. But he is right that homers hold the most value … which you will counter by saying, incorrectly, that teams hit fewer homers in the postseason and therefore the Yankees need to score runs in different ways in October.

It won’t surprise you to learn that the Yankees’ .245 batting average with runners in scoring position ranks a poor 20th in the majors, or that their 38 homers in those situations tie them with Milwaukee for first overall (thanks, Elias Sports Bureau). Overall, they have a .264 batting average, .336 on-base percentage and .461 slugging percentage against .245, .344 and .433 with RISP.

For that matter, even the advanced metrics don’t think much of the Yankees’ ability to hit in high-leverage situations. In a measure that FanGraphs calls, simply, “Clutch,” which compares players’ and teams’ overall performance to those in traditional clutch scenarios, the Yankees began action yesterday ranked 18th with a minus-0.81. In other words, they are worse in pressure at-bats than they are overall. You know who ranked first in this category? The Mets, at 4.35.

The primary culprits have been Russell Martin, who lately has improved upon an overall brutal campaign; Robinson Cano, who hit a two-out grand slam in the third on Wednesday; and Alex Rodriguez, who is renowned for not being clutch besides the 2009 postseason and everything in his life leading up to the 2004 ALCS.

“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Cano said, referring to the art of clutch hitting. “I don’t want to say [it’s] mental, because sometimes you get a situation where you hit it right at people. You’re not going to be successful all of the time. You’ve just got to be ready. When you don’t get it done, just be ready for [the next] one.’’

That’s the issue with clutch hitting, it seems. There’s not much rhyme or reason to the results. The 2009 Yankees were a poor clutch-hitting team (minus-1.85), yet the World Series champs are revered for their late-inning heroics and the introduction of A.J. Burnett’s walkoff pies. The 1996 Yankees also didn’t hit well in these situations (minus-1.64), while the 1998 (4.77), 1999 (.08) and 2000 (2.88) teams were better … as were the 2006 Yankees (2.68), who fizzled in the ALDS against Detroit, not to mention the 2004 version (3.35) that collapsed to Boston in the ALCS.

In short, though the Yankees’ numbers are discouraging, they are not damning. Hitting with runners in scoring position isn’t the test of mental strength we make it out to be. The same guys can look like heroes from April through September and not show up in October, or vice versa.

So stay uncomfortable, Yankees fans. Follow the rehabilitation of Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez, and watch that situational hitting. It might indeed prove the downfall of your team. Or, like Wednesday — or 2009 — it might be your salvation.